Glismann searches elsewhere

Yellow Springs Schools Superintendent Norman Glismann was named one of five finalists for the position of superintendent of Mechanicsburg Exempted Village School District last week, according to a Springfield News-Sun article from Tuesday, May 12. This is the second superintendent position that Glismann, who just finished the second year of a three-year contract with Yellow Springs schools, has applied for this year. Though he does not know if he has the job at Mechanicsburg, which would begin Aug. 1, Glismann said in an interview on Friday, May 15, that he intended to fulfill his contract with Yellow Springs schools.

“As of today, I am planning on being here next year and serving the third year of my contract,” he said.

Members of the Yellow Springs Board of Education became aware of Glismann’s job search in April, after a News-Sun article reported that he was one of two finalists for the superintendent’s position at West Liberty-Salem Local Schools. Though he was not chosen for the position, as the paper reported on April 21, he did convey to the board his intent to apply for other positions, School Board President Aïda Merhemic said this week.

It is not unusual for superintendents to move on after just two to five years in one district, Merhemic said, adding that it was unusual that former Yellow Springs Superintendent Tony Armocida was here for 10 years before he retired. But according to Ohio law, the school board may not publicly advertise for a new superintendent until the current official submits a resignation, she said.

“We certainly feel like we want to support him in his professional endeavors, whatever he decides,” she said.

Mechanicsburg will interview the five candidates this week and likely narrow the field to two or three people in time for one more set of interviews on May 26, according to Kathy LaSota of the Ohio School Board Association, which is conducting the search. The district hopes to name a new superintendent by June 1, LaSota said.

Glismann came to Yellow Springs in summer 2007 to replace Armocida. He was chosen from a pool of 30 candidates after a one-year search and had stated when he accepted the position that he hoped to spend the last 12 to 14 years of his career in Yellow Springs.

Several months into his new job, Glismann became involved in a controversy regarding the censorship of one of the high school one-act plays. And this year, Yellow Springs schools are facing tough budget cuts, an issue which has drawn much recent concern from parents and the community at large.

Before coming to Yellow Springs, Glismann spent three years as the principal of Bryan High School in Bryan, Ohio. Prior to that, he served as the superintendent of the Houston-Galveston Diocese School System in Texas and the Rochester Catholic Schools in Minnesota.

The two districts Glismann has applied to appear roughly equivalent to Yellow Springs, which has a kindergarten through 12th grade student population of 717 this year and offers a $100,000 annual salary to its superintendent. Mechanicsburg schools have a K–12 student enrollment of 1,027 and are paying its current superintendent about $100,000 as well, according to LaSota. West Liberty-Salem has 1,185 students in grades K–12 and contracted to pay its new superintendent a salary of $98,666, according to the News-Sun.